Democrats said they aren't happy with proposed cuts, and conservative Republicans said they're upset about fee increases, making the proposal's prospects on the House floor uncertain.

"The budget that we're proposing is slightly larger than the current level of spending, but it is significantly less than the governor is proposing," said Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, the chairman of the committee.

Kurk said the difference between the two budgets is about $500 million. In that gap, Democrats see severe cuts to several state agencies and programs. At a news conference they also accused Republicans of ignoring the most current revenue figures.

"When you back in a number and you don't pay attention to the updated revenue streams and you ignore anything put on the table by the governor, you're going to get a lousy product," Rep. Dan Eaton, D-Stoddard, said.

"It's possible that revenue estimates will change," Kurk said. "The preliminary numbers that I've heard are not cause for optimism."

Among the most high-profile cuts, the Department of Transportation would face mass layoffs. Republicans also cut $26 million for developmental disability services from the governor's budget and found savings by eliminating a state employee wage increase approved in the most recent round of collective bargaining.

The state crime lab would lose a pair of specialist positions for analyzing fingerprints and illicit drugs.

"We have an opiate crisis," Rep. Kathi Rogers, D-Concord, said. "We have lots of people that have been arrested and charged with selling drugs, with dealing drugs. We have a backlog in the lab, and our response to that is we're going to cut people in the lab. Not very responsible."

"There will be some reductions, but we needed to preserve as much money as possible to pay for roads rather than have the highway fund, funded by the gas tax, being used to pay for the Department of Safety services," Kurk said.

A big piece of the budget debate remains unresolved. On Wednesday, the House is set to debate a gas tax increase that would help fully fund the DOT. But Senate leaders said they won't support such a proposal.